Latin Analysis: Why are Women in Latin America Suffering a "Double" Pandemic?
FG Trade
At this point, it is widely known that some of the countries which are currently facing the cruelest consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic are Latin American. This means that not only are hospitals working over-capacity due to the large number of people getting infected with the virus, but this also indicates that the lockdown season (for those countries which advised citizens to stay indoors) has been much longer than that in Europe and Asia – as those are already opening up locals and restaurants and allowing people to travel to specific areas.
People staying at home has certainly had several consequences within the economy of the Latin countries. As of today, a future economic recession seems inevitable, the dramatic number of people getting fired from their jobs keeps increasing, and hence, income household has suffered a drop that enhances the vulnerability of families – particularly of those who already were facing poverty. Additionally, given that the economies of these countries rely deeply on informal economic activities, the fact that people are still required to stay inside their homes does not only mean that the economic growth rates will further decline, but also that people who depend on selling their products and services on the informal sector to make ends meet on a daily basis – which is usually the most marginalized – will suffer even more acutely.
Regardless, the social distancing measures were indeed imposed to avoid the spreading of the virus. Unfortunately, however, having people at home for long periods does not necessarily mean everyone’s safety is granted. Since the spreading of the virus started in March, there has been an unprecedented wave of domestic violence and femicide across Latin America. Experts suggest that this is intimately connected to the aforementioned reasons of social and economic uncertainty which keep people under high stress and anxiety levels.
In Argentina, statistics show that since the confinement measures started in March, women’s violence increased 40% and that in the overwhelming majority of the cases, the perpetrator was their partner who they lived with. Similarly, in Peru, only after 8 weeks under lockdown, 12 femicides and 226 sexual assault cases were reported, from which almost half were minors. Besides, emergency calls related to gender violence rose 103% in Colombia and 60% in Mexico – countries which already had high levels of domestic violence and femicide rates and whose feminist activists had already (before March) been making protests to demand more government protection to women.
This wave of violence has been particularly difficult to address for the governments of the Latin American states because, naturally, emergency services and hospitals are already overwhelmed with people who have contracted the virus, which has made ever more complicated to aid women in vulnerable situations. For this reason, several women’s institutions and activist groups have strongly criticized the governments of the countries within the continent, as the increase in gender violence also occurred within Asian and European countries when they imposed lockdown measures, and thus, it is said that not only did Latin America did have more time to think about measures to stop the spreading of the virus, but they also should have been prepared to implement strategies for women’s protection at home.
All in all, gender protection ministries have indeed tried to enhance their reaching out to women who might be in danger at home by using social media, opening more emergency phone lines, among other measures. However, as civil societies have pointed out, this tools might be useful for middle and high social classes who have access to cellphones and computers, but that it is indeed more difficult for women of lower social spheres. That is why it is considered that addressing women’s domestic violence in COVID-19 times is ever more delicate.
Even when there are some governmental efforts to tackle the wave of violence, these are mostly centered on reducing the rate of spread of the virus and trying to maneuver the economy to avoid an immediate recession. That is why non-state actors such as civic groups and NGOs have also started offering remote counseling services and have further tried to pressure governments to prioritize this issue, which was already poorly addressed on most Latino states before COVID-19 times.
Because the situation keeps worsening over time, the UN Watch recently released a full report on women’s violence in developing countries and policy recommendations to aid women who are being oppressed at home who do not have access to technology, who might have difficulty accessing basic services (which were already scarce before the pandemic), who do not have a place to stay other than the houses where they are confining, amongst others.
Women’s violence is indeed gaining more and more attention from politicians within the countries, however, domestic violence rates have affected more than 20 million women and girls throughout the continent, which has notoriously caused high discontent within the society. Women’s discomfort has become so acute that there have been expectations of them hitting the streets again to demand governmental attention to the issue. However, this has been preoccupying for international organizations, as it would inevitably also increase the spread of COVID-19.
It seems to be a fact that as long as there is confinement, women will still be suffering violence and sexual assault if governmental measures do not improve. Henceforth, it is hoped that the COVID-19 curves can get flattened soon, not only to reduce the number of sick people with the virus, but also to allow women to get out of their homes soon such that their suffering – mostly caused by close friends and family members with whom they share a living – can be soon alleviated.
